Xbox Fitness: How Microsoft plans to use big names and big data to whip you into shape

Fitness has been a part of the Kinect experience since the sensor was first released, but Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox One reinvents the experience from the ground up. In the past, users were stuck in a fitness video game featuring digital avatar hosts and odd virtual worlds. But Microsoft’s new and highly detailed Kinect sensor enables an entirely new type of interactivity on the Xbox One, making use of muscle mapping, balance calculations, and limb orientation detection. Fitness on the Xbox One isn’t just about awkward video game workouts with big motions like squats and lunges — Microsoft is trying to open up the platform to established exercise programs and create an experience based on perfect balance, form, and intensity.

The Xbox One is launching with a few big-name programs, such as Tony Horton’s P90X and Shaun T’s Insanity, along with workouts from well-known trainers like Tracy Anderson and Jillian Anderson. Titles can be purchased individually, for about the same cost as buying the DVD, or are available free for Xbox Live Gold members through December 2014 (subscription pricing after that date still hasn’t been finalized).